You can't take **** from every person
That tosses you about like
Some cheap *****
******* you over at every corner
You come across
Just hike up your skirts and grow a set
Of confidence in yourself
You have to stand up for yourself
And acknowledge your worth
Even if it ****** everyone else off
If they genuinely cared
They'd want you happy
You can't sit around waiting
Because life will pass you by
Like a bullet train on speed

Perhaps many of us don't realize
  That life
Harbors secrets and lessons around every corner
  But also harbors many disappointments
Each lie spewed like venom is poison to the tongue
  But each accomplishment is sweet upon the lips
Many moments are wasted and taken for granted
  But that's not true for some
Eventually the human race will understand
  That life is just about
Fairy tales and make believe or misery and agony
  It's a bittersweet mixture of both
With dashes of hope and pinches of despair
  It's a perfect recipe
For honesty and for dares

I can understand
That every now and again
We all hurt and we cry
And some of us feel as though we might die
While others try and cross that line
But I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
I can understand
How sometimes pain
Can be far too real
And we sometimes lie to ourselves
With wrists kissed by knives
But I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
I can understand
That we get so wrapped
Up in the moments that we feel
Worthless, useless, lifeless
Then cry and ache inside
But I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
I can understand
How we lose all faith
In hope for better days
And desire pills, *****, nooses
Blades, water. and bullets
But I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
I can understand
The feeling of loneliness
And heartbreak
With pangs of woe, hatred, and self-loathe
And thoughts flooded with depression
But I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
I can understand
Feeling as though I
Could never amount
To the person I need to be
And feeling like I should just let go
But I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
I can understand
Feeling all this awful
Having all this pain
But what I can't understand is
How I don't know why we feel this
I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
I can understand
That I have a disease
That yes truly we are
Searching souls in need of light
But never reaching out for help
I can't stand it
So I sure as hell can't stand for it
I can't understand
Why we search
And yearn for help
We look for outs before looking for ins
Or why we were chosen to carry this burden
I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
I can't understand
How it is that we
As victims of this disease
Can't understand our own psychosis
Or our own feelings
I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
I can't understand
How people see suffering
And just walk by
Like if they don't acknowledge something
In this world is wrong then it can't be
I can't stand it
So I sure as hell won't stand for it
Something I really cannot understand
Is how we
As a collective group of soon
To be strong despite feeling weak
Overcome our battle even if we experience defeat
I can't stand it
But I sure I hell can stand for it

All the **** time
These mosquitos buzz profusely
Around my throbbing ears
Begging for attention
And O the attention they so crave
Is gifted by the swat of my hand
The turn of my attention
These ****** mosquitos try to
Imbue my mind with mindless thoughts
Thoughts about superficiality
About insignificance
About the lies of the world
These ****** mosquitos permeate
My skin with their razor blades
Mixing blood types
I am always asked
If I am allergic to these parasitic creatures
That favor feeding off of individuality
And every single time
I reply
Telling them everyone
Is allergic to being infused
With blood that isn't supposed to run
Through their own veins by birthright
But no one understands
These small ******* creatures
Destroy even as just one
And an entire race of them
Destroys and entire race
Of individuality

Your brave yet broken soul
Your loud but open heart
Inspires me
You speak a great game
And you even walk the walk
Your metaphorical outlook shines
You're so strong
As you hold your head up
Admitting your faults
Scared to death
Such courage courses through your veins
After such a clouded past
With family and life
But those choices led you to today
And I love every bit of you
Flaws and all
You're a beautiful mother
A fantastic person
And an even better cousin

I'm not very religious
But if learned anything from
The youth group I attend
It is to speak life over death
And I think we could all
Always use a dose of encouragement
So I only have a few words
To share with all who
Are willing to listen or willing to change:
No amount of hatred
Is the only acceptable amount of hatred
The only amount of love
Acceptable in this world is infinite
When you witness a soul struggling
Help
You can't just pass them by
And expect positive results
When you see an easygoing person
Ask them if there is anything
You can do to help keep spirits high
When you are at your lowest low
Ask for help
Because we are just human
We can't carry the weight of the world
On our own
Otherwise there'd be no such thing as friends
Step out of your comfort zone
You just might be surprised
The things about yourself
You could find
Just by overlooking death and instead
Speaking life

I'll be the Harley Quinn
To your Joker gender bend

My heart certainly goes out to you
Especially after
This year's fourth of July
When Missy
A neighbor of mine in
My hometown
Begged us to sell her a sparkler
Only one
Because her five year twins
Were bawling
In the back seat of her car
Not knowing
How hard their mom worked
Just barely
Finishing her shift for them to see the
Fireworks' finale
She was **** near in tears when we
Gave away
Three sparklers and several ground flowers
For smiles
And out of kindness
She almost
Dropped her glowing Marlboro
In surprise
A few minutes later we could see
Three lights
Waving magnificently in the dark
And I
Took a picture that will forever
Be engrained
Of three handheld fireworks
Being waved
In an exactly identical pattern
And illuminated
Smiles on a small hurting family
Struggling mothers
My heart sincerely extends to you
With sincerity
I wish to help in every way
Ever possible

In the front yard
Over toward the left
Beside the climbing tree
Under the branches of the magnolia
Is a garden of dahlias
And a pond of water lilies
Which is great for hiding a body
If the need ever arises

So what happens when Jill
Comes running down the hill
Crying to Mary and her lamb
About how Jack had laid a hand
On her now ever-present frown
Spinning her head round
Jill is bawling because she knows
For breaking Jack's crown she'd face death row?

Into the pond half the body goes
The other half helps to make the plants grow
The girls sit and talk over a cup of tea
When Jill ponders over the meaning of free
Certainly not the sirens blaring out front
This is when Mary stubs out her blunt
Wanted for suspected ****** with fear in her eyes
Poor Miss Jill would have rather died
She begged and she pleaded for some form of mercy
But she was tangled in a web of controversy
Little lamb taken into custody by law
Mary found face down in a bale of straw
Foaming at the mouth
***** plus pills equates to south
Hauled off to jail
And stomach pumped back from hell
The girls become shells of nothingness
Creating only emptiness

On the first day of the last week
A girl wrapped in gold did appear
She whispered to the people of the land
Who knew their ending was near
She softly uttered these words:
"This can all be avoided still
The destruction, the chaos
The end all be all"
     The people shouted and cursed
Throwing rocks and casting stones
They all wanted to just return home
Each worldly word fell on deaf ears
For the rocks and stones clouted
The girl of gold with fear
     On the second day of the final week
A boy clothed in silver did appear
He spoke to the people of the land
For he knew of the crimes they committed the day before
"You can repair the damages done
But only within one last day
You still somehow have hope"
     The mayor of these people
Stepped forth and pleaded with
His kin, his brethren
But his words fell on deaf ears
For he and the boy of silver
Were slaughtered by once innocent people
     On the third day of the final week
A screaming light tried to save them
But the darkness of the hearts of the land
Swallowed the light without thought
     Days later
On the final day of the final week
The world was visited by the four who died
Each voice was powerful
Each voice was echoing
The people had been warned
But now their choices came back for hauntings
Each rush of negativity ever uttered
On the now barren earth
Fueled the four deities who had tried to help
And their great power
Engulfed the world in flames

     On the first day of the first week after the final week
The grass was replenished
The sky was once again clear
The poison that rushed through the veins of those people
Finally eradicated
A new race emerged slowly
To repopulate the world
But they had not yet been created
So all that rested on the
First day of the first week after the final day of the final week
On a perfect green hill
Under a perfect blue sky
Grew a single flower
Seven petals
One for each day of the week

Here's to showing off about football
Here's to thinking cautiously
Here's to candy
Here's to barely knowing the person who sits two seats away
Here's to a sweet tooth that tests limits
Here's to kitties and puppies
Here's to slowing rejecting the seating chart
Here's to a new chart that brings two seats together
Here's to a mutual friend
Here's to black and blonde hair
Here's to math class
Here's to learning
Here's to growing
Here's to October for reducing two seats away to one
Here's to November for closing the gap
Here's to weird animals
Here's to a new group
Here's to the boy who drops out
Here's to getting to receiving his GED
Here's to "I don't want to go homes"
Here's to choir as well
Here's to the weird science teacher who's room is claimed
Here's to awkward conversations that keep life flowing
Here's to boyfriends that lack approval
Here's to moving to a new room
Here's to arguments about Jess and Dean
Here's to Rory and Lorelai
Here's to that phone call at nine pm
Here's to "He wants to take a break"
Here's to "It's mutual" through heavy tears
Here's to friends ready to comfort
Here's to "He's trying to cheat on you"
Here's to "I just broke up with you, that's what happened"
Here's to feeling comfortable again
Here's to pause buttons for God of War
Here's to "He just broke up with me"
Here's to "He's just doesn't feel the same way anymore"
Here's to comfort and to "I hate him"
Here's to wanting to better oneself
Here's to falling short and crawling back
Here's to first fights
Here's to only lasting twenty minutes
Here's to "He blocked me"
Here's to "He's cheating on me"
Here's to not needing him
Here's to the past coming back to haunt you
Here's to being stabbed by someone once called friend
Here's to silence
Here's to "She's so pretty"
Here's to "I love you"
Here's to "No more pining after lame guys"
Here's to seeing that teacher at Goodwill
Here's to days of brokenness
Here's to hope
Here's to the future
Here's to sweet sixteens
Here's to first cars
Here's to reptiles in rainy weather attire
Here's to sassitude
Here's to sasstastic people
Here's to near deaths
Here's to survivals
Here's to first sleepovers
Here's to lunch at that cute Italian bistro nobody knows
Here's to Philly cheesesteaks
Here's to Thai tea
Here's to "When can we do this again"
Here's to nightmares about rejection
Here's to dreams about perspective
Here's to an undying friendship
Here's to an eternity of trust
Here's to many more days
Here's to you
And here's to me,
Cheers,
Your best friend

I've already found my home
I'm looking for our house

When everything else "good" left
Hope remained throughout the chaos

Too much drama
Too much noise
Too much "he said, she said"
Too much hatred
Too much pain
I can't toast to that
The world has tilted itself
Too far on its axis
I fear it will never correct
I want to spread love
To spread inspiration
To spread hope
To spread future
To spread encouragement
But life has so many downs
It seems almost impossible to adjust
The world to its proper proportions
So we just adjust
To the shifted thought
And its ever-widening gyre
That consumes us whole
Then never ceases to fill our bodies
With hatred and eat away at our souls
So this I urge
Wake the **** up
We need more positivity
And I am just as guilty
But I want to change
And make the world
See a 180 change
For the better

Dear fellow ink dwellers,
I wish that when you have a problem
After writing about it
That you would talk about it
We can't sit around letting an issue
Weigh heavy upon our souls and hearts
We need to open up discussion
And bear our burdens
We might not all like each other
But as poets we are a large community
And all of us can relate to pain
You can't make light of it
So I urge you
*Talk

Isn't as uplifting as it is on a Wednesday
Isn't as sweet as on Sunday
Isn't as forgiving as a Saturday
Isn't as filling as on Thursday
Isn't as full of memories as Tuesday
Isn't as carefree as it is on a Friday
But a strawberry lemonade on a Monday
Is far more poignant
Thoughtful and brooding
More intuitive and emotional
Definitely more sympathetic
And more compassionate
It's friendlier
It's more enticing
I wish every day
Was a little more like
Strawberry lemonade on a Monday

Freedom and independence are not synonymous
We have many freedoms
But zero independence
Independence is freedom
Freedom is not independence
What we celebrate is a false holiday
It's a cheap *** excuse to drink
And set **** aflame
What we celebrate is a false holiday
Once meant to portray
Our braking away
What we celebrate is a false holiday
That makes life seem like a joke
Because we've conformed too much
I have the freedom to say whatever
I **** well feel like
But I am not independent from fear
Or tyranny
This is America
Land of the stupid
Home of hatred
Everywhere I turn I see
Persecution
Oppression
For religion, ***, and race
For orientations and confusions
For thought and for ideas
This is America
Not some fluffy dreamland
Like so many of us make it out to be
Yes I will be ready to admit
We are certainly freer than most
And yes, I will be ready to defend
My country with my words
But I can't sit on the sidelines
And just watch as my land falls to ****
"Happy Independence Day"
It breaks my heart that we have to declare a day
To recognize independence
It's a false independence we celebrate
I love the fireworks and the lightheartedness of it all
But it's *******
We shouldn't have to label a day
On a calendar
For historical emphasis
Woohoo Declaration of Independence
And all that jazz
But it no longer seems that way
Equality has never existed
This America, not an Aboriginal society
Pursuit of happiness is impossible
Because one person's happiness destroys another's
Liberty and justice for all?
Yeah right
Happy Independence Day to all who believe
But as for me
Independence my ***

Words should be kind
Hearts should be full
Minds should be open
Love should be free
Worth should be equal to everyone
Worth should be seen at its maximum extent
Worth should not be less
For any one person
Hate should be eradicated
Pain should be non existent
War should be forbidden
Worth should be more
Not less
Yet it seems the world
Refuses to acknowledge
What must simply be an axiom
Because the universe, it appears,
Thinks negativity is the only way we grow
Help make humans worth more
Not worth less

Zip code 99123
Worst school systems
Boomerang effect
I know it truly is awful
It is the land of hopelessness
It sure as hell isn't
The Promised Land
But blue skies
Grey clouds
Hot summers
Frozen winters
Secrets
Community
Love
Lies
Jealousy
Complete bliss
Tied in with a blanket of anguish
Settled like dust
Those who live here
Those who leave here
Those who always return here
Remember
Forget
Either way you can't change
The history of our hearts
It can be hellish
It can be worthless
And true, there is absolutely nothing going for anyone here
But it will always be my hometown
Electric City
Zip code 99123
Just above the ****** dam
Because my home
Is where my memories
Of lessons learned lies

It is said that hell hath no fury like a women scorned
But I strongly believe that a wiser thought is
The world hath no determination like a ****** adolescent

Dear *******,
I don't need more ****
Blowing up the media
Blowing up my sanity
Blowing up the world
Literally
Dear ******,
Ruining humanity
Because you feel the need
To overcompensate for
Your feelings of insecurity
I don't appreciate
How you choose to draw attention
To yourself
In such a negative way
Dear *******,
Get your **** together
You need to learn that
You are not the only one who matters
You are not the only person
In this world with a
"Correct" opinion
Get off your high horse
And if you're gonna shoot up some
Place just because you
Feel so under-appreciated
Don't ******* shoot yourself
Dear *****,
Get your ******* *******
Out of their twists
You've got no more right than
Others who feel so down on their luck
To go around
******* **** up
Stop being a *****!
Dear ****,
I don't care if you ***** up your life
But I do give a ****
When you meddle with mine
I do give a **** when you **** with
OUR world
And yes, I get that this letter
To all you *******
Who think you're so ****** special
Could get me hurt
Shot
And killed
But at least I know how to use words
To speak out against injustice
And to speak up for my beliefs
Rather than just pulling a trigger
Or dropping a bomb
Sincerely,
A Very ******* *****

I know that you know
The pain you're so addicted to
Is not truly an addiction
To being hurt
To being made worthless
To feeling inadequate
It's an addiction to
Consistency
To feeling routine
But I know that you know
It's unhealthy
It's harmful
It's cruel
It's mean
Go find love elsewhere
Somewhere with respect
Somewhere with happiness
Somewhere without pain
I know that you know
It will not be easy
But I also know that you know
You need to do it
Because once upon a time
I was just like you
Addicted to the consistency
Of the abuse

Maybe
I'll
Sacrifice
Sorrow

Because
All
I really need to know
Lays in that
Elegant mind belonging to
Youth

Living in memories
Ever so sweet yet
Ever so destructive

All I need to do is move
Nearer to the goal line
Nearer to the right state of

Mind
Artistically imagining that fine line between
Reality and fiction
Trying to regain
Intricacy in this life I live right
Next to you

Pitter patter
Pitter patter
We sit here with no real knowledge
Of what we are to amount to
But we feel
Oh ****** how we feel
What we want to amount to
Badump
Badump
We will break like glass
And we will glisten like
Sun on the water
But so long as we feel
We are unshatterable
Beep
Beep
We might feel like we have
Hit the land from the sky
With our hearts of glass
Our souls of fragility
But there is always
The *feeling of what we want to become
That drive that will keep us going
Simply because
We possess hearts that beat
And hearts that bleed

I'm healing
I'm healing
And I'm dying
I'm dying
It's 28 days later
Four weeks
28 days
I was choking
I was choking
On tears that would
Not cease their constant flow
But I'm breathing
I'm breathing
But just barely
I can't help but have feelings
They don't go away
They don't go away
It's been four weeks
28 days
I'm healing
I'm healing

I am so sick and tired
Of everyone trying to fill me with reason
And logic that has no meaning
I'm so done with
The insane attempts to flood
Me with thoughts that are
Not my own
Why don't you try to
Make me feel differently about
This ****** world
Through actions
Because your words are just
Letters slammed down your throat
And into your mind
You are a doll to society
But you can change that
Let's fill hearts with emotions
And rid everyone of the parasitic thoughts
Crammed into our heads

i sit in the background
and watch the world continuously pass me by
i help everyone around me advance
as fast as they can
as fast as they want

i'm hidden in a corner
waiting for it to be my turn
but as soon as i help excel one person
another fills the void
another calls for my aid

i lie in bed at night
and realize i am doing nothing with my life
until i remember i live vicariously
through everyone i assist
through every action i help create

i awake in the morning
and i question my purpose in this world
because i am a lowercase kind of a person
living in a capital case kind of world
living in a show off your greatness kind of life

I am a minor miner girl
Searching for the diamond in each piece of coal
But sometimes all that is there is rock
No shining sparkle
But what girls like us minor miner girls
Don't realize is that we too shine
Those pieces of rock
Those lumps of coal
We throw our whole lives into
Trying to find their diamond
When it doesn't exist
At least not for us
We need to learn that we as individuals
Cannot press a lump so hard
And turn it to diamond
We need to see that
Nothing, absolutely nothing
Can hold us back
Except for us
So dear minor miner girls
Please realize your worth
And don't give your life to those lumps
Of what is really just dirt

Today I went walking
To go buy some treats
And on the way there
Down these familiar streets
Something in me shifted
Something had changed
Maybe that  something was
Simply nothing but me
I grew up here in this small town
Just for two short years
But to me you are home
And I cannot let go
But something in me was
No longer the same
At first I thought nothing of it
As I walked to the small store
For soda and candy
And ice cream galore
Bit on my way out
This nagging consumed me
I pushed it down
Into the depths of my mind
For a moment
I didn't want to think about
The growth and the change
Because I wanted everything to be the same
I don't want to leave behind childhood bliss
When my biggest problem was
Remembering who's weekend it is
I miss the simplicity of having no fear
But I know that that girl
Has long since disappeared
I was able to fight off all of these thoughts
Until I had almost reached my old front walk
I saw a woman walking away
From the cul-de-sac I'd been through
So many times
However
I didn't think I was seeing someone else
Because I got lost
In watching myself
I saw a child walking toward me
Not that woman in a sweatshirt
I saw the sheepgrass grown too high
And an adult version of me
Walking my way
Like some sort of warning
And I heard a voice
Like a scene in a movie
Telling me to move on
And release all my agony
She sounded just like me
At seven, fifteen, and twenty
Telling me nothing was wrong
Unless I let it be
As I write these words
Recounting my evening stroll
I realize I am never alone
I am the only thing in my way
Nothing is concrete
And sometimes things change
But I control me
And I think I'll enjoy it this way

I'm confused
Can you help me my dear
I'm feeling kinda lost and alone
I don't know
Where to go from here
But I won't go home
You told me
I was never gonna
Face the world
All by myself
Now I'm sitting here
Lookin' down
From a higher shelf

I'm all alone in this world
Least it seems that way
I can't say that I know
But I'm doin' okay
Yeah it kinda hard right now
Oh it's kinda tough
But I gotta stick it out
Like a diamond in the rough

Once upon
Some songs ago
I thought I met my prince
Now I know
I was so wrong
I've been healin' since
I'm pavin' my own little road
All on my own
And I must say I'm **** proud of myself

I'm all alone in this world
Least it seems that way
I can't say that I know
But I'm doin' okay
Yeah it kinda hard right now
Oh it's kinda tough
But I gotta stick it out
Like a diamond in the rough

Cuz I'm all alone in this world
For now anyway
And I don't care anymore
It's gonna be this way
Yeah I'm workin on lovin
Me and myself
And yes
Oh it's really tough
But I will stick it out
I'm a diamond in the rough

Jump
Dive
Swim as fast as you can
To get away
Before the explosion

Quick
Hurry
You can't look back
Otherwise you'll drown
And go down with it

Breathe
Release
The tension in your soul
He can't hurt you
Ever again

Sit
Cry
I know you loved him
But you will move on
Everything will be fine

Stand
Smile
A ghost of the past
Is not a light of the future
Abandon ship and fly

I promise
This one
Is for me and anyone who
Needs it

Don't
DO NOT
Let everything hold you back
Because pain is temporary
We will survive